Red Sox Predictions: What position will Michael Chavis play in 2020?

After an up-and-down rookie campaign in 2019, Michael Chavis is one of the more interesting Boston Red Sox players heading into next season.

Michael Chavis was called up by the Boston Red Sox on April 19, 2019.  Chavis took the game by storm,  pulverizing 6 home runs and hitting .354 in his first 14 games. The fact that Chavis’s end of season numbers are .254/18/58 shows the steep drop-off that Chavis fell victim to.

With numerous infielders (Brock Holt, Mitch Moreland, Steve Pearce, Chris Owings) fleeing Boston this offseason, Chavis should have a much larger role in 2020. He played 49 games at first base, 45 games at second base, and 5 games at third base in 2019.

Chavis’s season also ended abruptly with an oblique injury after spraining the AC joint in his left shoulder. Chavis should be ready to go for Spring Training in 2020 and should be expected to be an everyday presence in Alex Cora’s lineup.

So that leads to the question, what should Chavis’s everyday position be?

Chavis showed versatility on the diamond in 2019, learning a new position (second base) on the fly, playing first base, along with third base a few times throughout the season. It has also been reported by CBS sports that Chavis will play some left field in winter ball.

With the immense versatility displayed by Chavis, it seems an effective strategy would be if Cora deployed him in a similar way to how the Red Sox used Holt or how the Minnesota Twins used  Marwin Gonzalez. However, lurking in the Sox farm system is a player who has waited in the wings of Boston for years, waiting for an opportunity. That player is Marco Hernandez.

Hernandez was one of Boston’s brightest new stars but a left shoulder subluxation derailed any chance of playing in the 2017 and 2018 seasons. An injury-free 2019 allowed for Hernandez to play with the big league club where he sported a .329 batting average before September struggles threw off his stat-line.

Hernandez is a better defender than Chavis and has more experience at second base and shortstop.  Hernandez played 48 games at second base in 2019 and made 1 error. Chavis played 45 games at second base and made 4 errors.

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While Chavis did not prove in 2019 to be a consistent force at the plate, he did show glimpses of his potential. Even with Chavis’s inconsistent 2019 season, he still was a much better hitter than Hernandez (96 OPS+ to 60 OPS+).

With both players having upside, it is the obvious choice to make Hernandez a cheaper version of Holt and keep Chavis grounded at one position. So now, if Chavis is going to play (generally) one position in 2020, should it be first or second base?

Chavis is one of the many up and coming third/first baseman’s in Boston’s farm system. Bobby Dalbec is seemingly ready to burst onto the major league scene and seeing as Chavis has experience at second base that Dalbec lacks, then it makes sense to assume Chavis will be the everyday second baseman.

While Dalbec is favored to be the Opening Day first baseman, with Chavis to his right at second, Chavis is a safety blanket to play first base in case the major-leagues are too big of a challenge for Dalbec.

This article is by no means suggesting Chavis is an Omar Vizquel-caliber defender, rather he can play a serviceable first or second base. While right now it is seemingly crystal that Chavis should be the everyday second baseman for the Red Sox, everything can change with the pick-ups made by Boston in the off-season.